Take me out to the bald game

10/9/2003

You can blame -- or thank -- Andy Abad. Called up to the big leagues last month, the guy with the shaven head has helped the hirsute Red Sox take it all off. First, there was first baseman Kevin Millar, shorn and shiny going into Game 3 at Fenway Park vs. Oakland. And before you could say "mullet," the cue-ball count was climbing fast; by last weekend, it was up to 15 in the Sox clubhouse.

Millar, who took credit for the idea of shaving heads, gave third baseman Bill Mueller a buzz cut, then snipped off the signature tresses of second baseman Todd Walker.

Next thing you know, outfielder Gabe Kapler went from short to shaved ("a natural-born killer," Millar called his look), and catcher Jason Varitek, outfielder Trot Nixon, and pitchers John Burkett, Derek Lowe, and Tim Wakefield, among others, joined the ranks of Boston baldies. Yesterday, manager Grady Little and general manager Theo Epstein got clip jobs.

We wonder, will owners John Henry, Larry Lucchino, and Tom Werner cowboy up and choose the smooth route too?